Global Telehealth and Telemedicine Market Forecast to Grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 14% Through 2018

August 9th, 2012

Global Information Inc. would like to present a new market research report, "Telehealth and Telemedicine - Global Opportunity Assessment, Competitive Landscape and Market Forecasts to 2018" by GlobalData.

The global market for telehealth and telemedicine, estimated at $13.2 billion in 2011, is expected to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14% over the 2011 - 2018 period to exceed $32.5 billion by 2018.

This growth can be largely attributed to telehealth and telemedicines potential for tackling several impending problems impacting the healthcare industry. Telehealth technologies have a proven record of expanding the outreach of quality medical care, reducing healthcare expenditure and simultaneously enabling the optimal utilization of available provider resources. The growing burden of patients with chronic conditions and an increasingly large aging population are the other key issues promoting adoption.

The accelerated growth of robust telecommunication technologies, increased adoption of related healthcare IT solutions and the rising inflow of investments from companies and governments alike are also contributing to the markets double-digit growth.

The Telehealth and Telemedicine Market will be Driven by its Potential to Tackle Current Healthcare Challenges

Telehealth and telemedicine technologies offer significant promise as an efficient healthcare delivery model capable of tackling most problems currently faced by healthcare providers. Limited access to adequate medical care, the growing burden of aging patient populations, increasing costs and the shortage of medical professionals continue to put a burden on the healthcare system. Integrating telecommunication technologies to deliver remote patient diagnosis and care as well as preventive care services allow health systems to overcome these limitations and efficiently manage the provision of medical care. A growing body of clinical evidence and pilot programs has also demonstrated the potential of telemedicine technologies in reducing healthcare costs. To take advantage of its considerable potential, governments across the world have begun to adopt and support its implementation as an integral part of their healthcare delivery policies.

Confidentiality, Data Security and the Need for Better Reimbursement are the Major Challenges Limiting the Growth of the Telehealth and Telemedicine Market

As with most technologies related to healthcare IT, data security and privacy concerns are key impediments to the adoption of telehealth and telemedicine solutions and services. Although the market has seen a significant increase in clinical evidence and supporting data substantiating the usage of telehealth for improved access to adequate medical care, confidentiality issues and data security among patients and practitioners alike continue to negatively impact the scope and adoption of telehealth. Inadequate data security could lead to inaccurate diagnosis and erroneous prognosis and prescription. These issues impact the confidence of patients and telemedicine professionals in ICT, reducing the scalability of telemedicine solutions and services.

Limited reimbursement support for the adoption and implementation of telehealth technologies significantly deter investments by providers as well as vendors. Most reimbursement policies proposed for telehealth solutions or services are inadequate for covering services rendered by remote practitioners, community first responders or other providers. The wide array of stakeholders such as healthcare providers, remote service providers and medical device companies involved in the implementation of telehealth models are generally associated with inadequate reimbursement coverage.

The global market for mobile health (mHealth) solutions was valued at $1.2 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow at a high CAGR of 39% to reach $11.8 billion by 2018. It is the fastest growing segment within the telehealth and telemedicine market and involves the use of mobile applications and devices to monitor a patients health remotely. The substantial growth in this market is attributed to the widespread use of mobile phones that allow faster, easier and broader access to healthcare services. mHealth is used in patient consultation, patient monitoring and drug adherence programs among others and allows physicians to remotely monitor patients by accessing their records and making decisions remotely.

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